New Delhi: The central government, on Wednesday, announced a 3% hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) ahead of Dussehra and Diwali celebrations. This will impact nearly 49.2 lakh central government employees.
Around 68.7 lakh central government pensioners will also see more money entering their bank accounts with the government announcing a 3% hike raise in Dearness Relief or DR.
This is the last DA/DR revision under the 7th Central Pay Commission, before the 8th Pay Commission comes into effect from January 2026. Details of the 8th Pay Commission’s committee members, terms of reference are yet to be officially notified.
DA/DRs undergo revision twice every year to keep salaries and pensions in line with inflation. DA hikes become effective from January 1 and July 1 of the concerned year. Hence, this 3% DA hike will be effective from July 1. This means that employees will receive the revised DA arrears for July, August, September and October.
In March this year, the government hiked the DA by 2%, from 53% to 55% of basic pay. With the present 3% hike, the DA is set to become 58% of basic pay.
According to ET Wealth Online, an individual with basic pay of Rs 25,600 will see their DA go up from Rs 14,080 to Rs 14,848, translating into a hike of Rs 768 per month. Similarly, someone with a basic salary of Rs 56,900 will see an increase in DA by Rs 1,707.
It was estimated that DA would potentially go up to 60% of the basic pay by the end of this year. However, with this 3% hike, the 10-year tenure of the 7th Pay Commission effectively comes to an end and there will be no more DA hikes announced until the 8th Pay Commission comes into effect.
